A UAE-based Indian entrepreneur on Friday recollected how former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe appreciated and acknowledged his gift -- a golden beige jacket -- by wearing it during his 2015 historic visit to Varanasi.
'Be it tourist guides, hotels, rickshaw drivers, all have a livelihood thanks to Shah Jahan.'
District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered that it would continue to hear the petition seeking the right to worship in the temple.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
The BJP and its allies won all assembly seats in Modi's Varanasi and Adityanath's Gorakhpur, and the SP bagged all 10 segments in Yadav's Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi has been sent as a special officer to oversee the counting process in Meerut and Bihar's CEO to Varanasi.
The prime minister has announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (PM's National Relief Fund) for the next of kin of each deceased in the road accident in Mirzapur, UP. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, the Prime Minister's Office posted on X.
Prayagraj is a must-visit place in 2025, but in January and February you can't miss the Maha Kumbh, a spectacular event like no other.
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Assistant Commandant Lalit Mohan Doval said on Friday that the alert had been sounded on the Sonauli border in the district.
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
If MoSha -- who are well known for their last minute political legerdemain -- indeed decide that Pradhan is the right candidate to helm the BJP for the next three years, he will be the party's first president from East India.
Modi is on a two-day visit to his constituency, which began on Monday with the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.
This Women's Day Week, we pay tribute to the extraordinary courage, resilience, and leadership of three iconic Indian queens -- Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Rani Chennamma of Kittur, and Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of Malwa.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and P S Narasimha said that it is posting for October first week hearing on the appeal of Gyanvapi mosque committee's plea against the Allahabad high court order upholding the appointment of court commissioner to survey the site.
Will 'Bhaiyyaji', as Priyanka is called in UP, contest against Modi?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the spectacular Ganga 'aarti' in Varanasi on Monday evening while on board a river cruise with chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and other Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary has moved the Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This move comes amidst several petitions challenging the law's validity, including those filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. The Supreme Court, in December 2022, had restrained all courts from examining fresh suits and passing interim orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places. The Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, but the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. The court has listed Choudhary's plea with other pending pleas for February 17.
'It was a disaster on his part to give an oral remark which allowed ascertainment of the religious character of places of worship.' 'This disrupted the social harmony of the country.'
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
The Mathura Shahi Masjid Eidgah Committee has approached the Supreme Court, requesting the court to prevent the central government from filing a response to a petition challenging the Places of Worship Act's constitutional validity. The committee accuses the BJP-led government of intentionally delaying its response. The court had previously issued a notice to the government in March 2021, but the government has yet to submit its reply despite numerous opportunities. The committee argues that the government's delay is intended to obstruct those opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship Act from filing their own responses. The petition also states that the pleas challenging the law's validity are scheduled for hearing on February 17, and closing the government's right to respond would serve justice. The Supreme Court previously issued a ruling in December 2022 that stopped courts from entertaining new lawsuits or issuing interim or final orders regarding the reclaiming of religious places, particularly mosques and dargahs. The ruling halted proceedings in 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu groups seeking surveys to confirm the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. This decision was made in response to six petitions, including one filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship Act. The 1991 law prohibits the conversion of places of worship and guarantees the preservation of their existing religious character as it stood on August 15, 1947. Notably, the dispute regarding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was excluded from this law. There are also several cross-petitions advocating for a strict enforcement of the 1991 law to uphold communal harmony and maintain the current status of mosques that Hindu groups seek to reclaim, claiming they were temples before being destroyed by invaders.
In the morning, he offered prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat and the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi.
'You don't realise your life has changed in just three days.' 'It's when you come back to the city that it starts hitting you but you now have the power to manage the challenges Life throws at you.'
Taking to Twitter, Modi said that the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project will add to Kashi's spiritual vibrancy.
The Prayagraj airport in India is experiencing a surge in air traffic due to the Maha Kumbh, a major religious festival. The airport is handling an average of 40 non-scheduled charters and private jets daily, with figures reaching 70 on weekends. This is in addition to the average 148 scheduled commercial passenger aircraft operating daily. The airport recently received a contingent of about 180 politicians from Rajasthan and has seen corporate bigwigs like the Ambani brothers, Gautam Adani, and Pawan Munjal pass through. The airport has also hosted four international flights since the beginning of the Maha Kumbh, including a flight carrying Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The airport is currently undergoing an upgrade and expansion, and officials are looking forward to the government's plans to integrate Prayagraj with the airports at Kashi and Ayodhya to promote tourism in the region.
The Maha Kumbh 2025 at Prayagraj will feature a "Yuva Maha Kumbh", a gathering of youth and students celebrating Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary and his vision for India. The event, organized by the Vivekananda Kendra, will include workshops and discussions on Swami Vivekananda's teachings and their relevance to modern India. The gathering will take place from January 20th, coinciding with the Maha Kumbh, and is expected to draw a large number of young people.
The Delhi assembly results have underscored that a section of Arvind Kejriwal's committed supporters abandoned him because they were let down by his refusal to take a stand on crucial issues that impinge on the security and Constitutionally enshrined rights of the people, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
A severe traffic congestion extending for kilometers was witnessed on the routes to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on Sunday with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav asking the government to make emergency arrangements for the stranded devotees.
A leader of reserve and quiet dignity, former prime minister Manmohan Singh had a keen taste for Urdu verses, and his poetic banters with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha are among the most viewed parliamentary debates on social media.
The accused had taken a picture of the 'Jansampark Kaaryalay (public relations office)' of Modi, who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, and put it 'up for sale' on OLX website, they said.
Besides the not-so-hidden unease between Modi and Adityanath, Modi chose to address the Lok Sabha to ensure that he could personally claim all the kudos, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The idol of the goddess was taken to the temple in a silver palanquin, shouldered by Adityanath.
The youth -- their dreams of government jobs unfulfilled -- are voicing their frustration.
"Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh," said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.
The Uttar Pradesh government has implemented a special crowd management plan called 'Operation Eleven' for the 'Amrit Snan' on Basant Panchami at Maha Kumbh. The plan, devised under strict instructions from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ensures a one-way traffic route for devotees and smooth movement on pontoon bridges. The heightened measures are in place following a stampede on Mauni Amavasya that claimed at least 30 lives. 'Operation Eleven' includes measures such as strict enforcement of a one-way route, enhanced security at key locations, crowd control at Tikarmafi Turn, special arrangements at Phaphamau and pontoon bridges, railway station and bus movement regulation, enhanced security at Prayag Junction, crowd management at GT Jawahar and Harshvardhan Chauraha, additional security and traffic control measures, and deployment of extra forces.
Posters asking non-Hindus to stay away from the ghats of the Ganga and the temples along the river came up in Varanasi, prompting the police to launch a probe.
Before the arrival of the court commissioner and his team here, a large crowd of devotees had gathered for Friday prayers.
The 23 year old from Telangana will represent India at the Miss World pageant.
'Those who feared that I would have run one hell of a campaign targeting the most powerful people in India snatched away my democratic right from me.' 'I will expose these democracy-killers.'
Thousands of widows of Vrindavan and women abandoned by their families celebrated Diwali by lighting earthen lamps at the Keshi Ghat on the Yamuna river in Mathura.
